The present invention relates to an improved raised fabric container for laterally controlled above grade root growth and uninhibited below grade root growth, and more particularly, to an improved raised fabric container for accelerated laterally controlled above grade root growth that is fully open or partially open to the ground or grow medium beneath it for uninhibited below grade root growth conveying the advantages of planting directly in the ground including greater root mass potential, as well as, the advantages of an above grade container including removed proximity from ground pests, molds and mildews, ease of pruning and trimming, ease of uprooting for removal if and when required, and a surface contoured aesthetic for landscaping and earth retention purposes.
At the present state of the art the process for planting and growing trees, shrubs and other plants involves planting directly in the ground, in rigid pots or containers, in rigid beds, or in soft woven or non-woven fabric containers.
Although planting directly in the ground has been effectively sufficient since the domestication of plants by humans its many drawbacks and challenges include plant-inappropriate soils requiring extensive tilling and amendment, close proximity of lower plant canopy and stem to various ground born pests, molds and mildews, inadequate aeration, low canopy requiring stooping or laying on the ground to prune and trim, and difficulty in uprooting and removal if and when required.
Various rigid pots are well known in the art and the most common type of container within which trees, shrubs and other plants are planted. It is well known in the art that by bringing the plant above grade in a container its stem and canopy proximity to ground born pests, molds, and mildews is distanced and pruning and trimming is easier. Although rigid pots are susceptible to low cost of manufacture using modern polymers instead of traditional materials such as wood or ceramic, thus explaining their modern popular embracement, there are many disadvantages in practice including: insufficient aeration, growth limited to the size of the container, root binding due to inability of non-porous material to air prune resulting in root overgrowth leading to decline in plant health, inflexible size and shape that often fails to maximize the growth potential of a particular space.
Rigid planting beds have also been well known in the art and convey many of the same advantages and disadvantages of rigid containers. Rigid beds can be built to maximize the growth potential of a particular space; however, they are labor and material intensive and often create additional difficulties in uprooting for removal when and if required.
There are various types of soft woven and non-woven fabric containers. The fabric construction and soft and pliable nature of these containers makes them less expensive to produce and ship, easy to install, offers greater aeration and drainage than rigid containers for accelerated growth and air pruning of root ends preventing over growth and binding, and convey the advantages of a raised container including greater stem and canopy proximity from ground born pests, molds and mildews, as well as, ease of pruning, trimming, and uprooting for removal when and if required. As with rigid containers; however, growth potential is still limited to the size of the container and because soft containers come in fixed shapes, generally either round, oval or vertical seam patterned square, the ability to maximize the growth potential of a particular space and the ability to create contoured aesthetics is greatly limited.
A root control bag is taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,522 as a “process for growing nursery stock involving the specific improvement of confining root propagation to a nonwoven porous polymeric bag such that growth through the bag is severely constricted at the fabric, producing a girdling effect and root branching within the bag.” The goal of this approach is to convey the improved aeration and drainage of a fabric container that results in accelerated growth rates and healthy robust plants, and also to ease the effort required to move and transplant the plant within. Specifically, it is taught that growing in such a nonwoven porous polymeric bag encourages the development of a “highly root branched soil ball” that is “effective in re-establishing” the plant upon transplanting. This type of soft container is highly useful in the commercial nursery business, but as is taught it is intended to confine root growth, which will limit the ultimate growth potential of the plant making it inappropriate for permanent or semi-permanent applications or applications where maximum growth or earth retention potential is desired.
The inventors of the present art initially used modified versions of currently available fabric containers as taught in U.S. Pat. No. 4,574,522 to both validate the utility and determine the need for the preferred embodiments of a raised fabric container for laterally controlled above grade and uninhibited below grade root growth as taught herein. The present art offers several novel improvements in the art for the intended purposes including a preferred fabric cut and stitch pattern for creating a contoured lower edge to ease installation, improve durability, and reduce manufacturing costs; novel means of shaping and reinforcing using eyelets and cord/webbing; and a novel means of shaping and reinforcing using vertical post, horizontal, or axial reinforcements, or any combination thereof; and novel methods and processes for installation of a raised fabric container for laterally controlled above grade and uninhibited below grade root control.
Geotextile fabrics are known to be highly functional for earth reinforcement, contouring, and architectural applications when patterned, assembled, and filled with an appropriate geological medium such as soil, sand, gravel, rock aggregate or any combination thereof. Used in this manner, geotextile fabrics can be used to create cost effective retaining walls, drainage, and erosion control measures, as well as, ground contouring for landscaping and aesthetic benefit. The present invention seeks to benefit these capabilities of geotextile fabrics while expanding upon the usefulness thereof and improve upon the current state of the art of soft fabric containers used for growing plants and ground contouring. Because the present art enables roots to grow uninhibited below grade, it presents aesthetic and retention benefits when paired with appropriate plant species as it's well known that the root structures of plants are Nature's earth retention system of choice